We live about an hour away, and my wife is originally from Minot so we get there frequently. It's quite depressing to see all the houses still damaged a year later. Thank god we had an abnormally mild winter or else the poor people In FEMA homes might have froze to death. Currently, Minot is inundated with unemployed out of staters looking for work. Because of the oil boom, the recession never hit here, so there has been an influx of people. Wanna make $20 an hour at a fast food joint? Move to NDnd you'll have a job in about 3 seconds. Of course you'll have a hard time finding a place to live. My parents bought their house in 1991 for $18,000. They've made some improvements, but nothing major. The house is worth over $400,000 now. 5 years ago towns were filled with empty houses, now you can't even get a hotel room half the time. As three great Jewels they were in form. But not until the End, when FŽanor shall return who perished ere the Sun was made, and sits now in the Halls of Awaiting and comes no more among his kin; not until the Sun passes and the Moon falls, shall it be known of what substance they were made. Like the crystal of diamonds it appeared, and yet was more strong than adamant, so that no violence could mar it or break it within the Kingdom of Arda.